Article via Buffalo Rising
By wcperspective
The first distillery to open in Buffalo is now expanding, and will be reopening in the Cobblestone District in (hopefully) two weeks time. Partners Niko Georgiadis, Chad Vosseller, Jon Mirro and Thomas Jablonski came out with guns a blazin’, immediately cultivating a cult following throughout the region with their locally distilled vodka in 2012. Since that time, the operators have released a gin, but their original location prevented them from growing to any significant capacity.
Once Lockhouse is up and operational at the corner of South Park and Columbia, they will be running a tasting room out of the 3500 sq.’ building – something that they were not actually able to do with their former 1200 sq.’ location. The new space (taller ceilings) will also allow the operators to incorporate two 600 gallon stills, which are currently on order. “The distillery will be far more efficient,” says Jablonski. “We are moving from electric to steam fed stills – the added capacity means that everything will be far more efficient, with larger small batches, and an economy of scale that will help us to meet current demand, and sell outside of the region.”
As with all distilleries in Buffalo, the Craft Act also allows distilleries to open full bar setups within their operations. While Jablonski didn’t mention heading in that direction, the size of the Ellicott Development building does allow for this sort of expansion.
In the meantime, visitors to Lockhouse will be able to purchase vodka and gin bottles, with more to come, including a coffee liqueur, a version of Curaçao liqueur (similar to the original), and a style of amaro (bitter sweet). There will also be a 2016 release whiskey.”
